New technology makes it possible to automatically identify species by their vocalizations.

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The software and hardware system, detailed in the current issue of the journal PeerJ, has been used at sites in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica to identify frogs, insects, birds, and monkeys. Many of the animals identified by the system are typically difficult to spot in their natural environment, but audio recordings of their calls reveal not only their presence but also their activity patterns. The platform, which is called the Automated Remote Biodiversity Monitoring Network (ARBIMON), could potentially allow scientists to monitor species in remote sites without having a physical presence on the ground, according to the study's lead author Mitchell Aide of the University of Puerto Rico.

"To understand the impacts of deforestation and climate change, we need reliable long-term data on the fauna from around the world," Aide said. "Traditional sampling methodology, sending biologists to the field, is expensive and often results in incomplete and limited data sets because it is impossible to maintain biologists in the field 24 hours a day throughout the year, and it is impossible to clone expert field biologists, so that they can monitor various sites simultaneously."

Study co-author Carlos Corrada-Bravo, also of the University of Puerto Rico, says the technology enables experts to leverage their knowledge and test hypotheses on a broader scale in the field.

"We are not trying to eliminate the biologist," said Corrada-Bravo. "On the contrary, we are trying to provide the best data and tools possible, so that the biologists can use their time to convert these data into useful information for science, conservation, management, and education."

Corrada-Bravo added that because the data is stored for perpetuity in an online repository, it can be used by future generations of scientists.

"Each recording is the equivalent of a museum sample, which can be analyzed with the knowledge and technologies we have today, but which will be permanently stored so that biologists 20 or 50 years from now, will be able to analyze these recordings with new technologies and ideas."

ARBIMON utilizes both software and hardware, including a solar powered remote monitoring station.